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The objectives of the group Ardalh
The clear and acknowledged objective of Ardalh is to get rid of the out-dated and backward-looking idea that some people have of traditional Pyrenean singing, that is, that that the songs give pleasure only to those who are actually singing them. We want to pass these songs on to the people in the audience, and allow them to discover or re-discover the words and the melodies – their history, too, which is our own History, without which we cannot build a sound future. We want to show that certain flagship songs like Aqueros Montagnos , Bèth Cèu de Pau , l'Immortella , or l'Angelus qu'a sonat conceal less well-known variations of them and other songs altogether, which are a genuine testimony to a specific organization of society on which we still depend today.
Our Language
Our other aim is to use this musical medium to militate in favour of what can be called Bearnese, or Gascon or Occitan - and by doing so, in favour of all regional languages.
Here are a few often-asked questions from people wondering about why this language so needs to be taught:
"What is the point of making the effort to teach regional languages whereas no one speaks them any longer? "
So as to rectify the fundamental error made by the State, in particular at the beginning of the twentieth century, in the name of national unity, by banning the speaking of "patois" (what is sometimes called local “dialect”) and by surrounding the practice of it with the notion that it is out-dated.
So as to provide some cultural landmarks which make it possible to develop social ties that are consistent and positive at the same time.
Just as Latin makes it possible to have a better knowledge of the basis of our society and of the French, Spanish, Italian or Portuguese languages, so do regional languages
"Occitan is a dead language. And even if this is not true today, it will be tomorrow. "
It is not yet dead, though you never know what might happen…. We are involved in a new process of enhancing collective awareness of the values conveyed by languages that have become minority ones. The use of Occitan can only become more systematic once we have gone beyond this phase.
"If you want to work in Australia or in the United States, it is English that you will have to learn. "
You may also want to work in Catalonia or in Brazil. Occitan will be more useful there and why should people always want to go to the same countries - the United States or Australia ? There are 180 countries in the world; they too exist.
This is how this group can reach those audiences that are expecting to find dynamism and open-mindedness while still abiding by the values that have made it possible to get to know these testimonies to the past.
